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Our Story

A friend of mine recommended Ideasbynet. We're still friends.

Genuine words taken from a client's tweet, that sums up how we like to think we are regarded. We are fortunate because many of our customers return time after time and refer their friends and colleagues.

The loyalty and trust they show us is the reason we are now the biggest UK online supplier of promotional products. Our goal is to continue to meet the professional standards our clients set, and continue to enjoy working with the nice people they always prove to be. See what our clients are saying.

Caroline Pugh, Sales Director

Promotional gift businesses tend to come and go fleetingly, so in this respect Ideasbynet is something of a collectors item, as its roots date back to 1985. Our first website was up and running in the pre Google era of 2001. (Check it out on Waybackmachine). Over this time frame, we have supplied every sector of the UK economy and built up an experience base many find hard to match.

So often, our in-depth experience makes a real difference to our clients by creating time savings and cost efficiencies. As an example, we are used to corporate guidelines. We know Pantone numbers like the backs of our hands. We know how they vary when imaged onto differing substrates. We know too, how to avoid this problem.

All this talk of experience does not mean we are all eighties throwbacks (a few maybe). Our team is a fusion of all ages and diverse professional backgrounds. They share one trait: they eat sleep and breathe promotional products. We call them ‘Promofessionals' for this reason. To underscore their knowledge, we even feature their ‘Staff Picks’, in our catalogue. Meet our team.

Anna Hinde, Client Services Director

Let us hold your brand

We asked our customers for feedback on our website and whoa, they didn’t hold back

It is said, the best people to ask about improving your business are your customers. Ours let us pick their brains on the subject of our website. They didn’t hold back, suggesting the following modifications:

They identified that many websites show the same manufacturers’ stock photography, making it difficult for customers to see what they are really getting. This is why we prefer to shoot products in-house and show many informative close ups.

Our clients asked for more inspiration to help them create better campaigns. We responded with a moodboard button, which shows how extra impact can be created through striking product groupings.

Quite often it is nice to put a face to a name, hence our ‘meet the team’ page, which is a nice twist from the norm. Each of our ‘Promofessionals’ presents themselves in their own inimitable way and even show their baby pictures.

Clients like to visit ‘about us’ pages and want to be inspired. They want to discover our personality and get a real feel for who we are, what makes us tick and what differentiates us. Hopefully this page ticks a few of those boxes.

Duncan Johnson, IT and Web Development Manager

Environmental concerns are the reason many UK organisations work responsibly to reduce their carbon footprint. In this respect, the promotional gift sector is still some way behind the curve: churning out a non stop conveyor belt of massive lavish catalogues annually, ripping through 19,000 trees in the process.

As online UK market leaders we try to set an example to others in our sector. This is why we eschew printing heavyweight A4 catalogues, and instead produce a mini version in the style and size of a smart phone. It uses a fraction of the resources and arguably delivers more impact because of its novel look. Better still, it costs nothing to mail out, as most of the time it reaches our clients enclosed in correspondence we would be posting anyway such as invoices.

If you would like to receive a copy of our ‘LookBook’ (in a pre-used, recycled DL envelope) email sales@ideasbynet.com or call 0844 8117 566.

Andrew Swan, National Account Manager

Forests not flyers and the reason our LookBook is no bigger than a smart phone

If it looks like a duck, swims and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Not so with branded merchandise

It is probably the case in every sector that some manufacturers take risky shortcuts and flout EU regulations to reduce costs and hike profits. In branded merchandise this practice is endemic. We see many examples of pens with dried out refills, umbrellas that are not waterproof, and cotton bags where the logo rubs off onto clothes.

This kind of problem is compounded as many websites take liberties with photoshop. They mislead the customer by applying bogus logos onto product pictures and show un-achievable, over-generous branding areas.

This is why we make the following commitments about the products on our website:

Every products meets EU standards.Because of our high turnover, stocks are turned around much faster. This guarantees our clients fresh products every time.Leading edge imaging technologies ensure inks will not rub off onto clothes etc.Products on our website featuring the Ideasbynet brand are real, so too is the print area and print finish. Your guarantee that what they see is what what get. We also have Hi-def pdfs showing many products in extreme close up.